Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

A row between coffee farmers in Abbey Green, St Thomas, and the proprietor of the Abbey Green Estate has reached the Supreme Court.

Farmers in the area are contending that an iron gate put up by the estate owned by Dr Charles Lynn has been preventing them from accessing their farms on lands behind Lynn's estate for several months. The lands, which the farmers cultivate, are owned by the Forestry Department.

The iron gate, which is manned by armed security guards, was put up last December on a road for which the St Thomas Parish Council has claimed ownership.

The road that runs adjacent to the Abbey Green Estate is the only means of getting to their farms, the farmers claim, and the only way they can bring out their crops. The over 100 farmers have been cultivating the land for over 40 years and they say they have been using the same route to access their farms over this period.

Coffee rotting

They add that their crops, mostly coffee, which are ready for reaping, are now rotting on their farms as a result of the blockade.

"By law, if we stay away from wi place for four months, we can't go back there. We no have no talk again," says Errol Harriott, who has been farming on the land for over 30 years.

The St Thomas Parish Council has since taken on the plight of the farmers and issued two notices to Abbey Green Estate.The first was a cease-and-desist order to stop the estate from blocking the road and a subsequent notice that the gate was to be removed by the council.

However, lawyers representing the estate have so far been successful in getting a 28-day injunction through the Supreme Court to prevent the parish council from removing the gate. The injunction has been in effect since February 12.

The farmers have so far taken matters into their own hands and removed the gate during a protest last week. But the area is still manned by armed guards blocking access.

"So, after 28 days, the four months out. That's why wi in a problem," adds Harriott.

"We have it documented ... proven that the road is owned by the parish council," says councillor for the area, Deverell Dwyer.

Lynn could not be reached for comment. However, lawyers repre-senting the estate are saying that the gate is not in fact on the parish council's road.

They say the gate was put up to keep out thieves who have been raiding the premises.

Private road

"We are contending that the road does not belong to the parish council. It is a private road," argues Maliaca Wong of the firm Myers, Fletcher and Gordon, which is representing the estate.

She says the road only serves two private properties, including Abbey Green Estate.

"We have Gordon Langford's statement showing who was the original owner, who was the commissioned land surveyor, and who cut the road," Wong states. "It (the statement) said it is a private road and we believe the parish council is simply mistaken and is confusing the two roads. If we only have the opportunity to point that out, we think the matter can be resolved."

The case is to be heard next in the Supreme Court on March 11.